Every
week, NOLA.com/Times-Picayune LSU beat writers Jim Kleinpeter and Randy Rosetta
pick the winners of selected games from the SEC and around the country.

Jim Kleinpeter

Last week:
13-7 (.650)

Season:
84-36 (.700)

Thursday

Western
Kentucky (4-1) at Troy (3-2): Defense wins even on an high-powered offenses home field. ... Western Kentucky 30, Troy 21

For LSU to knock off No. 3-ranked South Carolina, the Tigers likely need a strong performance from Zach Mettenberger.Brett Duke/Times-Picayune

Saturday

South Carolina (6-0) at LSU (5-1): At home at night and wounded would suggest a chance for the
Tigers to bite back. That 21-game home streak is no house of cards. ... LSU
16, South Carolina 14

Auburn (1-4) at Ole Miss (3-3):
Yes, I guess it is that bad at Auburn. The Rebels might be undermanned, but
have a little more of a winning spirit going. ... Ole Miss 24, Auburn 19

Alabama (5-0) at Missouri (3-3):
Welcome to the SEC. Make that 'Welcome Mat' to the SEC. ... Alabama 42, Missouri 9

Florida (5-0) at Vanderbilt (2-3): The Gators are going to struggle with this one. They were sky-high
last week and Vandy has a tendency to bring out the worst in teams. ... Florida 29, Vanderbilt 13

Kentucky (1-5) at Arkansas (2-4): Arkansas continues to get salve for its wounds and Kentucky knows
how to play that role. ... Arkansas 28, Kentucky 7

Cordarrelle Patterson has been a bright spot for Tennessee this season and they need another one at Miss. State this week.Associated Press

Tennessee (3-2) at Mississippi State (5-0): MississippiState is a paper bulldog and this is a game that Dooley has to
have to keep his job. His hip surgery won't be a factor. ... Tennessee 27, Mississippi State
26

Texas A&M (4-1) at Louisiana Tech (5-0): Texas A&M is probably wishing about now this game had never
been scheduled. But the Aggies will survive. ... Texas A&M 38, Louisiana Tech
34

Texas (4-1) vs. Oklahoma (3-1):
Sooners have more bullets this time in the Pink River Shootout. ... Oklahoma
32, Texas 24

SMU (2-3) at Tulane (0-5): The
Greenies get their starting quarterback back but it won't matter this week, or
any week. ... SMU 31, Tulane 10

West Virginia (5-0) at Texas Tech (4-1): LSU's victory at West Virginia last year looks better every time
the Mountaineers play. Tech fans are used to seeing their guys play this way. ...
West
Virginia 41, Texas Tech 28

Stanford (4-1) at Notre Dame (5-0): The Fighting Irish are relevant because of a solid defense that
won't be challenged this week. ... Notre Dame 24, Stanford 10

TCU (4-1) at Baylor (3-1): It's nice
these two old Southwest Conference rivals play in the same conference again.
Even without its quarterback, Horned Frogs have the edge. ... TCU 21, Baylor 14

Wisconsin (4-2) at Purdue (3-2): The
B1G is about as relevant as the MAC this season. ... Purdue 21, Wisconsin 17

Oregon State (4-0) at BYU (4-2): The
Beavers will be without their starting quarterback against a strong BYU defense
but will pull this one out. ... Oregon State 10, BYU 6

Southern Cal (4-1) at Washington (3-2): Barkley to Lee will be too much for the hometown Huskies. ...
Southern Cal 35, Washington 23

Kansas State (5-0) at Iowa State (4-1): Kansas State is due to trip up and Ames is a likely place but not
just yet. ... Kansas State 20, Iowa State 10

Louisville's defense, led by S Hakeem Smith, has been a steady force this season.Associated Press

Louisville (5-0) at Pittsburgh (2-3): The Panthers are better than their record and Louisville hasn't
played as well as its record. One less unbeaten team after this one. ... Pittsburgh
24, Louisville 20

Iowa (3-2) at Michigan State (4-2): Eventually the Spartans will come around and play like the B1G's
best team, then begin kicking themselves for not starting earlier. ... Michigan
State 27, Iowa 13

Northwestern State (3-3) at Southeastern Louisiana (2-4): Bradley Dale Peveto's Demons will take down the front-running
Lions and restore some order to the Southland. ... Northwestern State 30, SLU 16

--------------------------------------------------------

Randy Rosetta

Last week:
11-9 (.550)

Season:
86-34 (.717)

Thursday

Western Kentucky (4-1) at Troy
(3-2): In a Sun Belt race with plenty of contenders, this
is an interesting showdown of defensive will of the Hilltoppers (lead SBC in
total and scoring defense) and the Trojans offensive prowess (second in league
with 498 yards a game). Defense goes on the road well. ... WKU 28, Troy 24

Saturday

South Carolina (6-0) at LSU (5-1):
Expect the Tigers to play better and the Gamecocks to suffer some level of
letdown after such an emotional week against Georgia. But Carolina is built
sturdier for the long haul of this season and isn't playing as many young
players. LSU will get a nice boost from its home crows and this one stays
close, but the Gamecocks keep their dream season alive in the end. ...
South Carolina 20, LSU 17

Auburn (1-4) at Ole Miss (3-3):
Neither team has a breakthrough win yet this season but the Rebels have come a
lot closer. Auburn can't seem to put together a consistent offense and that's a
problem facing a Rebels team that has no problem moving the ball. Losing streak
snapper here. ... Ole Miss 35, Auburn 17

Alabama (5-0) at Missouri (3-3):
Missouri is down to backup QB Corbin Berkstresser as the starter against that Alabama defense? Oh boy, this won't
have a happy ending for the Tigers. They'll probably get an SEC win at some
point, but that's not on the docket this week against the well-rested and
steamrollin' Crimson Tide. ... Alabama 30, Missouri 7

Mike Gillislee was a key out of the backfield against LSU last week and should get plenty of chances to shine at Vanderbilt.Associated Press

Florida (5-0) at Vanderbilt (2-3):
Letdown for the Gators? That seems likely after they had two weeks to rev up
for LSU's visit. Mix that with Vandy having some newfound confidence and this
has the makings of a down-to-the-wire battle. That could transpire, but Florida
has too many goals ahead of it now. If the Gators win this one, they take a serious head of steam into their back-to-back matchups with South Carolina and Georgia... Florida 21, Vanderbilt 13

Kentucky (1-5) at Arkansas (2-4):
Remember when this used to be a really entertaining basketball game? Yeah, well
this isn't basketball. Instead it's bad football. Look for the Razorbacks to
nab their first winning streak of the season. ... Arkansas 27, Kentucky 20

Tennessee (3-2) at Mississippi
State (5-0): Crossroads game for both programs and
one orange-clad coach. The Volunteers need a win they can hang their helmets on
and gain a little momentum from. State can keep plowing ahead toward a
treacherous four-game road to end the season. This time, offense trumps
defense. ... Tennessee 33, Mississippi State 28

Texas A&M (4-1) at Louisiana
Tech (5-0): This was supposed to be a nice light
season opener for the Aggies, a way to ease into the Kevin Sumlin era. Now it
looms as possible stumbling block for an A&M team that has things rolling.
Ags go from one extreme to another against Louisiana foes this week and next. ...
Texas
A&M 42, Louisiana Tech 37

Texas (4-1) vs. Oklahoma (3-1): With
Kansas State's re-emergence and West Virginia showing up in the Big 12,
suddenly this game is far from being the only one that really and truly matters. It's still big,
though, and there should be plenty of intensity because it's essentially a
knockout game for a BCS berth. Head tells me to pick OU, but gut goes the other
way. ...
Texas 38, Oklahoma 31

SMU (2-3) at Tulane (0-5): There
might be a few games on the Green Wave schedule it can look at and feel like
there's a legit chance to win, and this might be one of them. The Mustangs
aren't explosive, but have been solid on defense at times - including last week
in a 17-0 shutout over UTEP. SMU has a little too much this week. ... SMU
28, Tulane 10

West Virginia (5-0) at Texas Tech
(4-1): The Red Raiders' nice start hit a snag against
Oklahoma last week, but that may have been just the calm before the storm. West
Virginia comes as far as it has to for a Big 12 Conference game - 1,500 miles -
and brings Geno Smith and that PlayStation offense along. Tech may slow the
Mountaineers down for a while, but not all day long. ... West Virginia 41, Texas Tech 28

Stanford (4-1) at Notre Dame (5-0):
Looking for points and lots of offensive excitement? Look elsewhere. This sets
up a defensive fist fight between two teams that don't have tons of speed, but
execute well in the trenches. Whichever quarterback the Fighting Irish trot out
will have a tough chore to deal with, but so will Josh Nunes against ND's
aggressive defense. Special season continues in front of Touchdown Jesus. ...
Notre Dame 21, Stanford 17

TCU (4-1) at Baylor (3-1):
This game sent the Bears on their way last season, and in particular, launched
Robert Griffin III's Heisman Trophy campaign. That's something you have to
think the Horned Frogs remember not so fondly. With a week to get freshman QB
Trevone Boykin prepared against a shaky defense like Baylor's, the edge swings
to the more defensive-minded Frogs. ... TCU 35, Baylor 24

Bucky the Badger is hoping Wisconsin can start taking control of the BIG Leaders Division this week.Associated Press

Wisconsin
(4-2) at Purdue (3-2): Why is a game between a pair of
two-loss Big Ten teams a big deal? Because these are the two most likely
Leaders Division contenders who are eligible for the championship game. The
Badgers are a bit offensively challenged and the Boilermakers have had issues
slowing foes down. With the Legends Division not exactly brimming with world
beaters, this could be a game with Rose Bowl implications in mid-October. ...
Purdue 31, Wisconsin 21

Oregon
State (4-0) at BYU (4-2): Beavers have emerged as one of the
biggest surprises in the country thus far by making it tough for offensively
efficient teams to operate. BYU is not in that category, but the Cougars are
also stingy, allowing only 8.8 points a game. This won't look anything like
Baylor-WVU. ... Oregon State 17, BYU 12

Southern
Cal (4-1) at Washington (3-2): The Huskies have been
battle-tested in two games against the No. 2-ranked team in the country, so
taking on the 11th-ranked Trojans shouldn't be a big deal, right?
Depends on which UW team shows up - the one that got rolled by Troy 40-17 last
season or the one that nearly upset the Trojans the two season before that. ...
Southern Cal 30, Washington 20

Kansas
State (5-0) at Iowa State (4-1): The Cyclones' recipe
for success is pretty basic - keep games close and figure out a way to squeak
out a win at the end. Problem this week is that K-State doesn't keep things
close, with three wins by 39 points or more this season. The Wildcats score
43.6 points a game and Iowa State allows only 15.8 a contest. One of those
numbers will change dramatically this week. ... Kansas State 35, Iowa State 16

Louisville
(5-0) at Pittsburgh (2-3): The Cardinals are the cream of the
Big East crop this year, which may not mean that much, but it's something. For
Pitt, it's been a rough fall, although there is an upset against the other
ranked team the Panthers have faced this season (Virginia Tech). There's also
the fact that Pitt has won the last four games with UL. That streak ends
abruptly. ... Louisville 28, Pitt 7

Iowa
(3-2) at Michigan State (4-2): With every game in the
BIG Legends Division carrying so much weight, showdowns like this between perennial
contenders who have fallen on hard times makes for interesting football. Not
exactly exciting football, though. Edge to the Spartans at home. ...
Michigan State 17, Iowa 13

Northwestern
State (3-3) at Southeastern Louisiana (2-4): Demons may be
the better team so far, but it's the Lions sitting alone on top of the
Southland Conference standings, already with one big win against an in-state
ranked opponent out of the way despite ranking at or near the bottom of the
league on most offensive categories. The Lions have been solid on defense in
their two SLC wins, though, which makes this week a tough test for the Demons.
Not tough enough. ... Northwestern State 32, Southeastern Louisiana 17